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After all, why live the dream if you can't share it?

"It's so sad because when we take pictures now, it's not like, 'Oh, this will be great in a picture frame or in a photo album,' " 21-year-old Gonzalez said. "It's like, 'Oh, this is going on my MySpace.' "

The South Padre Island Convention and Visitors Bureau is estimating that more than 85,000 spring breakers will visit the island in March, with 12,000 to 15,000 expected to crowd a main gathering area called Coca-Cola Beach each day during this week's "Texas Week," so-called because most state colleges and universities are on spring break.

The scene is, for the most part, what you'd expect: A beach littered with beer bongs, 24-packs and ragtag football games as giant speakers blast Justin Timberlake and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Some guys wear giant sombreros, some girls wear strands and strands of beads, and everywhere you go are the smells of sweat and sunscreen.

Generation loves to share

But whereas in the past, people may have had to depend on
MTV
and
Girls Gone Wild
videos to show how uninhibited spring break can be, technology is helping young people take matters into their own hands, turning spring breakers into photographers, videographers, storytellers and stars.

"They're a generation that has had a video camera pointed at them since birth. That's how they've been socialized is to share that kind of (event) with each other," said Dr. Beth Olson, director of the University of Houston's School of Communication. "It may be that other generations didn't have the technology that was so cheap and readily available."

At YouTube, where a quick search of the words "spring break" produced more than 4,000 results, site editor Mia Quagliarello said spring break videos are just part of a broader trend of people wanting to share their personal travel experiences.

"The travel area (of YouTube) is definitely growing a lot," she said. "One of the things I'm also noticing is, the YouTube community is banding together and meeting in the real world. It's really interesting that this virtual world and virtual network of friends is translating to real life."

This spring break, MySpace is also attempting to bring the virtual world to life by hosting two parties for its users — one in Panama City, Fla., and one in South Padre — on Wednesday night.

Victor Garza is general manager of South Padre's Club Chaos nightclub, where one of the parties is being held. Sitting in the club's office, where the walls were painted like zebra stripes and the music pumping downstairs rivaled his words, Garza said collaborating with MySpace was a no-brainer.

"Are you kidding me?" he said. "You know how big MySpace is. It's millions upon millions of people on that Web site."

He said the club is expecting more than 3,000 people at Wednesday's event, a number similar to turnouts for some of the best-known touring artists that come through South Padre.

"That's a definite surprise," Garza said.

'Keep it tasteful'

Just after arriving in South Padre on Friday night, 22-year-old
Lori Rendon
of Austin logged on to MySpace in the business center of
La Copa Inn
.

"I haven't checked it in a week," she said. "I'm having withdrawals."

Then, she said, she wouldn't check it again for the rest of spring break, vowing instead to spend her time taking photos to post later.